On the way home from Texas last week, we saw Bill Kirchen in the Austin airport.  Turned out he was on our plane, and when we headed down the aisle looking for seats, his eyebrows rose at the sight of this case, which at the time had my green floral bathrobe belt looped around it to hold the whole darn mess together:

“What’s in there?  A fiddle?”

“Uh, no.  An old lap steel.”

“What kind?”

“A 1950’s Supro.  The case is a mess.  I hope I can get it home in one piece.”

I did not tell him I named my son after him.  Repeat:  I did not tell him my son is named Willie, Billy or Bill.

Bill Kirchen is a nice guy, so he said, “Hey, it’s O-G.  That’s what a friend of mine would call this.  O-G.  Original.  That’s good.”

I told you he was a nice guy.  He was actually heading to RI, too, to play later at Knickerbockers in Westerly, RI.  Banjo Man even went to the show (I spent the night asleep and drooling on the couch, while wearing my O-G sweatpants).

Here’s my new/old guitar:

It’s not fancy, but there’s a lot of power in the pickup and the tone is very nice.  I’ve ordered a couple of books and a dvd, so my winter project is learning how to play some Texas Swing on this little guy.  I haven’t found a teacher yet, but the hunt is on.

Bill Kirchen asked Banjo Man if we were musicians, and Banjo Man said, “Well, barnyard musicians.”

An excellent description.  So far in the barnyard we now have 2 banjos, 2 fiddles, 1 lap steel, 1 acoustic guitar and 1 karaoke machine.

It’s going to be a good winter.